


you bring me home

by CrushingOnLarry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, M/M, University!Louis, YouTube, YouTube!Harry, bakery!harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-05-15 01:01:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19284880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrushingOnLarry/pseuds/CrushingOnLarry
Summary: Theo Starr.Louis looked at the YouTube channel name with immense confusion. He drunkenly grabbed his laptop and shoved it right up to his face, as if to inspect the person who was singing on his screen further. Who the hell was Theo Starr? And why the hell did it look so much like Louis’s childhood best friend, Harry Styles?or an AU where Harry has a secret YouTube channel where he posts covers and sings original songs, and one night, a drunk Louis stumbles upon his channel.





	1. Prologue

HI GUYS!!! I'm back. This is like what, my fifth current fic I am writing? Man, I have no life. BUT ANYWAYS, I really hope you enjoy this fic!! The credit does not go to me. This story prompt is @[larentsvinyls](https://twitter.com/larentsvinyls)'s on Twitter. Go follow her!!

 

 

_“LOUIS! LOUIS! Open the door!”_

_Harry was knocking repeatedly on the Tomlinsons’s front door, holding a white bag in his left hand. Nobody was answering, so he kept on knocking. A few moments later, a surprised Jay opened the door. She looked down at Harry and laughed._

_“Come in,” she smiled._

_Harry didn’t have to be told twice. The ten year old boy rushed in and ran upstairs to Louis’s room. He didn’t bother knocking; he just walked right in. Louis was busy reading a comic book. Harry plopped down on the bed and Louis smiled._

_“What’s up Haz?”_

_“I GOT IT!”_

_Louis’s mouth dropped open and he looked at his best friend in shock. “You did?!” he asked incredulously._

_Harry nodded and showed him the white bag. Immediately, the boys opened it together to reveal a white box from Nintendo. It was the newest GameBoy; the Advance SP. He had begged his mum Anne for months to get it and she finally budged. Harry was over the moon! He had picked out the red one, because he knew it was Louis’s favourite colour._

_“Did you get any games?” Louis asked, excited._

_“My mum only let me pick one,” Harry frowned. “It was a tough choice but I went with this one!”_

_Harry held up a small game cartridge that read: The Fairly Odd Parents: Breakin’ da Rules._

_“Fairly Odd Parents?” Louis read aloud, confused. “What’s that?”_

_“Some kind of TV show I think,” Harry shrugged. “I don’t know. But look,” he pointed at Timmy Turner, “it looks like you Lou! That’s why I picked it!”_

_Louis laughed hard, clutching his stomach. He laughed so hard he ended up falling off the bed. Harry dropped his GameBoy and the game and peered over the bed to see Louis still laughing. He smiled when he realized his best friend was okay._

_“Why are you laughing?”_

_“He looks ridiculous,” Louis pointed out. He slowly got up and wiped some tears from his eyes. “You got this game because he reminded you of me? Harry, you could have gotten a Super Mario Brothers game!”_

_“I like this one,” Harry frowned, getting defensive over his game. He picked it up and clutched it to his heart. “I picked it out for a special reason and I’m keeping it! Do you wanna take turns and play, or not?”_

_“I do, I do,” Louis reassured him. He sat back down on the bed and Harry put the cartridge in the game slot; loading it up. He had made sure to charge it before heading over to Louis’s. That was the longest half-hour of his life. Once the game loaded, the boys each took turns playing. They ended up playing for hours, until it was dinner time._

_“Harry,” Jay popped her head into Louis’s room. “Do you want to stay for dinner hun?”_

_Harry grinned and nodded. “I would love to! I’m just gonna ask my mum!”_

_He passed the game to Louis and told him to keep playing. He then rushed downstairs and out of the Tomlinson house. He looked both ways to make sure no car was coming and he then crossed the street. He walked into the home facing Louis’s and yelled out, “MUM! Can I have dinner at Louis’s?”_

_“Sure love,” Anne called out from upstairs._

_Harry smiled and ran out, shutting the door behind him. He then ran back inside and went up to Louis’s room. Jay was standing there, waiting for an answer. Harry gave her a thumbs up and she chuckled softly. “You boys are too cute. Enjoy your game, I’ll call you when it’s time for dinner!”_

_With that, she left Louis’s room. Harry turned to Louis and peered over his shoulder. “What did I miss?”_

That was back at the beginning of 2003. By the end of the summer, Louis found out they had to move for a new position when his dad Mark got within his company. That meant Louis had to leave London, but mainly. . . he had to leave his best friend; Harry Styles.

Unfortunately, this was before cell phones were widely popular and before Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and many more, were even invented. YouTube only came out two years later in 2005. This meant that the boys had no way of contacting one another. When Louis moved away; their friendship moved with him.


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry, Niall, and Zayn go to a restaurant to catch up for the beginning of the summer.

_8 years later_

“Thanks for coming in,” Harry called out. “Have a lovely day!”

He looked at the clock and noticed his shift was finally up. He took off his apron and hung it in the back. He waved goodbye to his manager and walked out of the bakery; making his way back home. He had just recently finished his Stage 5 education at school and now was fully done with high school. Currently, he was working at a bakery in London. He decided just to use the summer to focus on his music and YouTube channel. Once summer would be over, that’s when he’d figure out what to do with his life. For now, he just enjoyed working at a bakery and making music.

On his way home, he texted his friend Niall.

**Any plans tonight? x**

Niall responded back almost instantly. _Ye, going w/ Zayn to this new restaurant that opened up! Wanna come?_

**Sure! Text me the deets.**

Harry went home, walked into his room and looked at the time. 4:45 PM. He had just enough time to shower and get ready for his dinner plans. He looked at his untouched laptop and sighed. The music was just going to have to wait until later that night. Ever since he had turned fifteen, he had really gotten into music; mainly singing. He knew how to play some guitar, but not much. Only simple chords. He planned on practicing over the summer to become better at guitar. Since Niall knew how to play, he had asked him to help. Niall promised to help if Harry brought back treats from the bakery; he was a simple man like that.

Once Harry was done taking a shower and getting ready, he started making his way to the new restaurant. He took the tube and got there in exactly a half-hour. When he walked in the restaurant, he began looking around to see if he could see his friends. Luckily, Zayn noticed him and flagged him down. They were sitting in a booth. Niall and Zayn were sitting on one side, so Harry sat on the other side.

He moved in all the way and Niall looked at him, confused. “Why don’t you just sit in the middle Harry? It’s not like we have a fourth friend in our group.”

“You make us sound like losers,” Zayn frowned.

Harry chuckled and scooted to the middle. He grabbed a menu and started looking at what they had. “Three is a good number,” he began, still scanning the menu, “the three stooges, the three musketeers, the three bears from Goldilocks. . .”

“I’m just saying,” Niall shrugged. “Maybe we should try to extend our friend group.”

“It’s hard making friends,” Harry mumbled. He looked up at the boys and smiled softly. “I’m lucky I even have you guys.”

Both Niall and Zayn were a year older than Harry. They were both in university; Zayn was an English major, and Niall was in this fancy culinary school. Since it was finally summer, he was able to see the boys more often.

While they were gone, Harry just focused on his music. He never really went outside, unless he had to work. He used to be so outgoing and wild back when he was in his early teens. . . but he wasn’t like that anymore. He knew why.

Louis Tomlinson.

That was his first ever best friend. They had been best friends since Louis moved across the street from Harry when he was five. Unfortunately, when Harry had turned ten, Louis had to move since his father got relocated at his job. Harry still found himself thinking about Louis a lot. He wondered how he’d grown up, what he was currently up to, what was he like now? Louis brought out Harry’s social side.

After Louis left, Harry sort of clammed up. He found it hard to make friends after that. No one could compare to Louis. Luckily for him, he found Niall and Zayn when he was sixteen. This kid at school was picking on him and the two boys happened to be walking by when they told the kid to ‘shove it’. Ever since then, the three of them had been the best of friends.

“So what is everyone going to get?” Zayn asked, forcing Harry out of his thoughts.

As if on command, Niall’s stomach growled. They all laughed and Niall told his friends about his two options. He couldn’t decide between the lasagna or the fish tacos. Harry was sometimes worried for him. Although Niall _loved_ food, he could never pick a meal. Zayn always teased him saying that when Niall owns a restaurant someday, he won’t know what to serve to his customers.

When the waiter came back, Niall ended up going with the fish tacos. Zayn ordered the chicken parmigiana, and Harry got a bacon cheeseburger with fries. Once the menus were gone and out of the way, Niall propped his elbows on the table. “So, does anyone have any big plans for the summer?”

“I’m just hoping to work on my songs and put out some more covers,” Harry shrugged.

Niall and Zayn groaned. They had never heard Harry sing, unless they were listening to music in the car. They both knew he had a YouTube channel but Harry was sneaky; he made sure there was no way for anyone to find his channel based on his name. It wasn’t private or anything, but he used a fake name. He didn’t want people from high school finding him online.

“Will we ever get to listen to your covers or your songs?” Zayn asked.

“Yeah,” Niall piped in, crossing his arms. “If I’m going to be teaching you guitar, shouldn’t I be able to hear what you’re going to play?”

“Maybe someday.”

Harry didn’t say anything else on the subject and that’s when his friends knew to stop pestering. Niall turned to Zayn and raised his eyebrows, waiting for him to answer his question. Zayn looked up at the ceiling and thought for a moment.

“I’m not too sure,” he admitted sheepishly. “I’m just glad the semester is over. I only got back a few days ago, I hadn’t really planned anything out. I might focus on my art and do some paintings. I just need to find some inspiration. I might take a little trip too, I haven’t decided. What about you Niall?”

“I’m just going to work on my cooking skills,” Niall smiled. “We were actually given a couple assignments over the summer. One of them is to perfect the macaroon recipe.”

“Maybe we can help you?” Zayn suggested.

Niall burst out laughing and shook his head. “Nuh uh mate, I’m okay. Remember last time you two tried to help me make crepes? There was flour _everywhere_!”

“Fine,” Zayn sniffed jokingly. “Enjoy making the macaroons by yourself!”

~

When Harry got back home, it was nine o’clock. The boys stayed past dessert and just caught up since they hadn’t seen each other in a couple months. He walked up to his room and shut his door. He turned on his laptop and went to check his YouTube page.

A video he had posted a couple of days ago had a few likes. He smiled softly to himself and grabbed his notebook. It was _filled_ with song ideas and covers he had planned to do at some point. Whenever he had a nice lyric pop in his head, he would write it down immediately in case something great would come out of it. While at dinner, he had thought of a nice little line.

Once he opened his notebook, he scribbled furiously until he had written down the lyric. He reread it and shrugged to himself. It was a good line, but he didn’t know what to do with it. Not yet anyways. He shut his notebook and yawned, feeling tired all of a sudden. He got changed and got ready for bed. He then turned off his light and hopped into bed, the lyric replaying over and over in his head.

_We’re just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me_


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis heads back to London to see his family.

“Remind me again why you’re making a stop in London before my epic graduation party?” Liam asked.

Liam was sitting on Louis’s bed while he was packing up some clothes for his visit to London. It was a last minute spur of the moment idea.

“I haven’t seen my mum since Christmas,” Louis said defensively. “And she just moved back there recently. I want to help her unpack and get her settled in. Plus, I’ll still make it in time for your party Li.”

Louis had done some extra credit work during the Easter break to improve his Media Studies grade, so he unfortunately did not go home for the holidays. By the time he had finished his project, there were only two weeks left and his mum and the girls had booked a vacation months ago to go to Disneyland Paris. 

“I know,” Liam smiled. “I’m just excited, we’re finally done uni!”

Truth be told, Louis didn’t want to go up to Wolverhampton early with Liam. Ever since they had finished university a couple weeks back, Liam was partying and drinking like there was no tomorrow. Louis had never seen this side of him before. While they were both in school, Liam was so quiet and reserved.

Then again, so was Louis. He had always kept to himself. He didn’t like getting close to anyone new. Thankfully, somehow Liam made his way through Louis’s walls during the first week at the University of Oxford, and they had been close friends ever since. It was nice for once, having a friend to talk to about anything and everything. Louis hadn’t had that in practically a decade. He forgot what it was like to  _ be  _ a friend.

“Do you have any plans for the summer, mate?” Liam asked.

Louis stopped packing his things and thought for a moment. He turned to Liam and shrugged helplessly. “Absolutely no clue. I should probably try to find a job of some sort. How about you?”

“I’m going to try out for the X Factor.”

Louis dropped the clothes he was holding on the ground. His mouth dropped open as well and he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Since when did Liam sing? 

“I’m kidding.”

Louis threw a pair of boxers at Liam’s head and Liam laughed, dodging the flying underwear. “You should have seen your face! That was the funniest thing alive!” He clutched his stomach from all the laughter. 

Louis wanted to push him off the bed, but decided against it. Instead, he said, “If you keep this up, I won’t come to your party.”

Liam immediately stopped and put his hands up, as if to say ‘I surrender’. He handed the boxers back to Louis as a peace offering. The older boy graciously accepted and Liam continued on. “I think my dad has something lined up for me back in Wolverhampton. He won’t tell me what it is, though, he keeps saying it’s a surprise.”

“That’s nice,” Louis noted. “I have absolutely nothing lined up. I mean, I was a Communications major for Pete’s sake. What the hell am I going to do with that?”

“At least you enjoyed your program,” Liam shrugged. “It was worth it, wasn’t it?”

“I guess.”

“I studied Business with a minor in English,” he added, “that’s about as vague as it gets. Trust me, Louis, you’re going to find a job. If anything, I’ll help you find one.”

Louis grinned eagerly and felt his heart accelerate slightly. It sure felt good to have a friend again. He didn’t know how he managed to go through high school without them now that he had Liam in his life. Louis had felt very alone and isolated when he was in high school. He was glad he didn’t have the same experiences at university.

“Thanks Li,” Louis nodded. “I really appreciate that.”

He finished packing the last of his clothes and closed his duffel bag. He was so excited to see his mum and his sisters again. It had been six months since he last saw them. He planned on spending time with them throughout the summer as well, but he knew he wanted to see them before he went to Liam’s party. 

“Of course,” Liam nodded and smiled. “By the way, I forgot to mention this earlier, but if you want to bring anyone with you to the party, you can.”

Liam was such a comedian at times. 

~

“Mum?”

The moment Louis walked in the Tomlinson’s home, he was attacked by the twins. They jumped on him and Louis laughed, opening his arms up to hug them. Phoebe and Daisy squeezed him as tight as they possibly could. 

“What took you so long?” Daisy huffed, slowly pulling away.

“Yeah,” Phoebe added and frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“I had to finish up some things for school cuties,” Louis smiled softly. He crouched down so he could be closer to their height. “But hey, I’m back for a few days and you guys will see me all throughout the summer, I promise! I’m done with school now, so I think I’ll be sticking around for some time.”

The girls squealed and hugged him tightly once more. Louis laughed and hugged them back again. He shut his eyes and let himself enjoy the moment. He had missed his sisters so much. He was wondering where Lottie and Fizzy were.

“Louis?”

The twins quickly let him go and he walked over to his mum and hugged her tightly. Jay immediately wrapped her arms around her only son and hugged him with everything she had. She felt tears come to her eyes and she smiled softly. 

“I hope you don’t plan on going back to university, young man, because we’ve missed you too much.”

“I don’t plan on it,” Louis chuckled. 

She slowly pulled away and smiled at her son. She blinked away the tears and tucked in a loose strand of his hair. “Congratulations, love. We’re all so proud of you. Lottie and Fizzy are over at friends, but they’ll be back later to say congrats.”

“Are we celebrating?!” Phoebe exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Daisy pipped in. “Does that mean we’re having McDonald’s for dinner?!”

Louis and Jay laughed together. She looked at him and raised her eyebrows. “How does that sound Boo? Interested in some celebratory McDonalds?”

“That sounds great mum.”

~

“So what are your plans for summer?” Jay asked. 

After they had finished eating their McDonalds, the twins went downstairs to go watch some show on the TV. Lottie and Fizzy still hadn’t come back from their friends yet. It was just Louis and his mum sitting at the kitchen table; just like it used to be many moons ago. 

“I’m not sure to be honest,” Louis admitted sheepishly. “I know I’m going to look for a job. I’m going back up to Oxford in a week with Liam to move out. Are you still okay with me moving back in for a while? Just until I find a job and can get settled in?”

“Of course,” Jay responded, smiling softly. “You’re  _ always  _ welcome to stay for however long you want darling. We’re not going anywhere. Without Mark, we have no reason to move anymore so we’re staying put kiddo.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Louis smiled. 

He hadn’t been back in London in so long. Immediately, he planned on scouting London the following day. He was going to have to explore and see what had stayed the same, and what had changed.


	4. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis and the twins explore London, while Harry enjoys his first day off in a long time. . . or so, he thought.

Harry was so excited; he _finally_ had his first day off in a couple weeks. He kept getting called into work because the bakery was either super busy, or someone else didn’t show up. The manager always said that Harry was their most reliable employee. But he had been promised that he wasn’t going to be called in that day.

It was absolutely lovely. Harry had slept in; something he hadn’t done in a long time. He usually had to be up at six in the morning to get ready for the day and head into the bakery an hour before it opened to set everything up. That morning, he slept in until noon. He had never woken up so refreshed before. It was a nice feeling.

Once he was awake, he decided to stay in his pyjamas to feel comfy and relaxed all day. He grabbed the notebook that was resting on top of his bedside table and flipped through the pages. He read every single song on his list until he decided which one he’d cover. He went with _I’m Yours_ by Jason Mraz.

He then grabbed his phone and googled the chords. They seemed pretty simple enough; there were only five or six chords. He grabbed his brown wooden guitar and placed it over his lap. Harry began plucking the same chords over and over again to get used to the motion. Once he felt like he had that part down, he practiced it once and began singing.

 _Well, you done done me and you bet I felt it_ _  
_ _I tried to be chill but you’re so hot that I melted_ _  
_ _I fell right through the cracks_  
And now I’m trying to get back

He messed up a chord and stopped immediately. He frowned and ran a hand through his brown curly hair. He took a deep breath and started again from scratch. This time, he merely hummed to the tune. Harry managed to get through the entire song and he grinned to himself. Thankfully, it was a very easy song to remember.

He got up from his bed and went over to his desk; grabbing his video camera. He then placed all of his manuals from school on his bed - his usual set up - and placed the camera on top of the books. Harry pressed record and sat down on the bed, placing the guitar back over him.

Since he had started posting videos, he had become very good at editing. It took him some time, but he had mastered it. It also took him no time at all to edit anymore. He would just cut out the beginning and the end where he got himself organized.

“Hey guys,” he smiled, looking directly at the camera. “Theo here. Just wanted to post a quick little cover on this beautiful day. I also wanted to say thank you for the lovely comments and likes on my last video; you guys are amazing. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkHTsc9PU2A).”

He started strumming his guitar and bopping his head along to the tune. When the time came to sing, he just let the words flow out. He truly felt like himself when he was singing. It would always put a smile on his face. Harry felt awkward and shy at all times; except when he was singing. He wasn’t like this before. . . but that’s what happens when people lose their best friend early on in life. They just clam up.

 _There’s no need to complicate_ _  
_ _Cause our time is short_ _  
_ _This oh this oh this is our fate_  
I’m yours

He strummed the last chord and smiled sheepishly at the camera. He then put the guitar on the side of his bed and quickly got up, stopping the video. Immediately, he connected the camera to his laptop and turned it on. He liked editing his videos _right_ away. Harry didn’t like to wait too long to edit, because then he got shy about his video and wouldn’t want to post it on social media.

He cut out the beginning where he was setting himself up and cut out the end, where he got up to turn off the camera. Once that was done, he replayed the video and analyzed every single second; making sure it was okay to post. He heard a few birds chirping in the video and he looked at his window; noticing it was open. He shrugged and decided it was good enough. Just as he was about to start uploading the video, his phone went off.

“Hello?”

“Harry, it’s Landon. I’m so sorry, I know I said I wouldn’t call but James has the flu and can’t come in and we’re swamped. There’s a little lull right now but it won’t last long. I promise I’ll give you an actual day off soon. Can you please come in?”

Harry remained silent for a few moments. He _really_ didn’t want to go in, but at the same time, he was a massive pushover. He just couldn’t say no to anyone, especially not his boss; he would feel too bad.

“I’ll see you in thirty.”

“Thank you so much Harry,” his boss beamed over the phone. Harry shut his eyes and took in a deep breath as his boss explained what they had to do when he came in. He then hung up and plopped down on his bed for a moment; groaning into the covers.

~

Louis was out exploring London. He decided to bring the twins with him so that Jay could have some time to properly unpack without getting distracted. When he told this to his mum, she practically cried on the spot. She hugged him tightly and whispered, “I’m so lucky to have a son like you Louis.” He almost got emotional himself; he didn’t realize how much he had missed his family until he came back.

So far, the three of them had walked past the London Eye, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey; something Louis hadn’t done before. The girls began complaining of their aching feet, so Louis thought it was a good time to have a snack somewhere. When he mentioned this, the twins perked up and were suddenly filled with energy once more.

They started running ahead and Louis had to jog to keep up with them. The twins ran inside a building and Louis had no choice but to follow them. Once he walked in, he realized they were at a bakery. Phoebe and Daisy had their noses practically pushed up against the glass display. Louis quickly ran over and gently pulled them away from the glass. He looked up and saw an older man behind the cash.

This man seemed very anxious and out of sorts. He was furiously scribbling something down on a notebook. Louis looked around the bakery and noticed they were the only ones. “Excuse me,” Louis said gently to get his attention.

The man looked up and flashed a nervous smile. “Oh, hello! Sorry for the wait, I hope you weren’t waiting too long. It’s been a crazy busy day today and an employee couldn’t show up so I had to call someone else and- listen to me, I’m rambling. I’m sorry, what can I get for you lovies?”

The twins giggled and pointed at the glass. Daisy pointed to a cinnamon roll, and Phoebe pointed to a vanilla cupcake. The man chuckled and grabbed his tongs. “Is that for here or to go?”

“We’ll eat here,” Louis smiled.

The man nodded and put the treats on two separate plates. He punched the order into the cash register and looked back up at Louis. “Anything for you?”

“I’ll get two small cartons of milk-”

“CHOCOLATE MILK!”

Louis rolled his eyes playfully. “Sorry, two cartons of _chocolate milk_ , and one large coffee; black please.”

The man nodded and punched the rest of the order in. Louis paid by debit and the twins grabbed their plates. Louis warned them to be careful and to pick any seat they liked. Phoebe ran over to a corner of the store with Daisy following behind her. Louis brought over their milks and then headed back to the front and waited for his coffee.

A few moments later, the man handed him the coffee and Louis thanked him. He picked up a few napkins and went back to his sisters. Phoebe had vanilla icing all over her face. Daisy was laughing and using her fingers to wipe it off. Louis handed them a napkin and they each squeaked a little ‘thank you Lou’.

“I’m going to marry chocolate milk,” Daisy said and grinned after taking a sip. She was now sporting a milk moustache. Phoebe noticed this and took a sip of her milk as well; unveiling a matching moustache. They laughed together and pointed to each other’s faces.

“Louis, where’s your moustache?” Phoebe frowned.

He decided to play along with them. Daisy offered him a sip of her drink and he gulped down chocolate milk; something he hadn’t had in ages. He put the carton down and wiggled his eyebrows, showing off his moustache. The twins laughed even harder. Louis smiled softly to himself; he loved making his little sisters happy. Their laugh was infectious.

“Alright ladies,” Louis began. The twins giggled some more. “What do you say we head back home?”

They both nodded eagerly. Phoebe had finished her cupcake, so they were just waiting on Daisy. She decided, to save on time, to grab the rest of her cinnamon roll and shove the whole thing in her mouth. Louis glared at her playfully. “You better not choke, little missy.”

Thankfully, she managed to eat it successfully and Louis was slightly impressed. As he started cleaning up the table, Daisy exclaimed, “I have to pee!”

“Me too!”

“Go ahead,” Louis nodded and motioned towards the bathroom. “I’ll wait for you here.”

Phoebe grabbed Daisy’s hand and they sprinted to the bathroom. Louis brought the plates back to the front and the man gratefully accepted them. “Thank you. Although, you didn’t have to bring them back, I would have picked them up.”

“Nonsense,” Louis shrugged, “Sounds like you had a stressful day, and I’m happy to help in any way that I can.”

“Maybe I should have called you in to work,” the man joked.

Before Louis could respond, the twins ran back out. Louis waved goodbye and they were on their way. When they got back home, Jay had just finishing unboxing her sixth box. She had a very successful day. Louis unlocked the door - her mom had given him a key for the summer - and the twins ran through the door and attacked their mum. She laughed and hugged them back tightly.

Louis smiled and walked over. “We had a brilliant day, right girls?”

“Right!”

“You betcha!”

“I’m so glad,” Jay smiled. She looked up at Louis and started laughing. “Seems like you might have had too much fun. Go look at yourself in the mirror, darling.”

Louis went into the bathroom and groaned when he saw his reflection. He still had his chocolate stache above his lips.

~

“I came as quickly as I could,” Harry said, out of breath.

The tube was running late so it took him a bit longer than a half hour. Once he got off, he _ran_ the last two blocks to the bakery. However, when he walked in, he noticed no one was there. He looked at Lance with confusion written all over his face.

“It sort of died down,” Lance shrugged. “But we still have a lot of preparation to do since I didn’t get any of it done earlier because of the rush.”

Harry shrugged and went through the little gate to get behind the cash. He put on his apron and braced himself for his fifteenth shift in a row. Lance began explaining what was left and Harry sort of droned him out. He didn’t understand why his boss was explaining anything; every task was in the checklist binder and that’s what he always referenced. Lance himself got off topic and began rambling on.

“Oh, and you missed a nice fellow with the cutest little twins. They bought chocolate milk and showed off their chocolate staches. They seemed as if they were having a lovely time; you should have been here. You would have eaten it up.”

Harry thought nothing of it. He just assumed it was his boss rambling on about how endearing some customers were, as Lance usually did. If only he had known that his ex-best friend had walked into the bakery and Harry had missed him by a few minutes.


	5. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter unfortunately. I started writing sm aus on Twitter and I've gotten addicted. I'm hoping to post more of this soon!

“Don’t go Louis.”

Louis chuckled and hugged the twins for the fifth time that morning. “I’ll be back in less than a week,” he repeated once more. “It’ll be no time at all. I’ll miss you both terribly.”

“I have an idea,” Daisy mumbled into his shoulder, “don’t leave, and then you won’t miss us.”

Jay laughed and slowly pulled them off Louis. They both pouted and began waving sadly. Louis hugged his mum once more and she hugged him back tightly. 

“Have fun darling,” she said softly. 

“I will,” he grinned. 

With that, he grabbed his duffel bag and headed out the door. He had a flight in three hours to Wolverhampton. Liam was meeting him there at the airport. He was arriving quite a couple hours before the party so he could help his friend set up. Louis was very excited for the party; he hadn’t had a proper one in what felt like a year. Now that he was finally done with his studies, he planned on having a grand old time… and he couldn’t wait to start. 

~

Once he landed, he managed to get his bag fairly quickly. Then he headed to the boarding area and spotted Liam instantly. Liam ran over and hugged his best friend. Louis chuckled and hugged him back with one arm; his other holding his bag. 

“I’m so excited mate,” Liam exclaimed. “I plan on getting  _ hammered _ .”

“I’ve never seen what that’s like,” Louis noted. “I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of drunk you are.”

“I guess we’ll find out,” Liam shrugged. They started heading out to the parking lot where his car was. “Are you going to get drunk tonight Louis?”

“You know it.”

~

It didn’t take them too long to set everything up for the party since they were now two people. Liam had bought a couple of bottles of liquor for the party, even though it was a BYOB invitation. He had countless snacks laid out on the table such as: chips, dip, candy, finger foods and plenty more. Liam was very organized, even for parties. 

A quarter after eight, the first guests arrived. Liam had clicked play on a playlist and set it up to a speaker. Before Louis knew what was happening, he had a red solo cup in his hand with some type of beer. He was nursing it throughout the night, not wanting to get  _ too  _ drunk. It was only when they started playing beer pong that he realized he needed another drink. He went into the kitchen and decided to do a rum and coke this time. 

Soon enough, his second drink turned into his fifth drink. He started feeling slightly woozy. The room began to spin ever so slightly and the noise of the party seemed as if it was getting louder. He saw the front door open and someone walked in. Liam quickly ran over and hugged whoever it was. 

“ANDY!”

_ Right, Liam’s best friend.  _

Louis looked down at his practically-empty cup and sighed. He felt like he had too much to drink. Thoughts were running through his head… like how he felt lonely. He only knew Liam at the party and now Liam was with his childhood friend. It made Louis miss the good old days. He used to have a best friend when he was younger. What was his name again? Gary Miles? No, that wasn’t it. 

_ Harry, Harry Styles.  _

Louis was so distracted with his thoughts that he didn’t realize that he had went upstairs to the guest bedroom where he was staying. He shut the door behind him and plopped down on the bed. He dug through his bag until he found his laptop case. He then opened it up and tried to drunkenly type in his password. It took him six tries.

Once he was finally in, he went to his folders. Under the pictures folder, he had one picture of him and Harry when they were kids. His mum had forced them to take a picture and at the time, Louis was so embarrassed. Looking back, he was so thrilled because that was the only memory he had of his childhood friend. 

He opened the picture and smiled softly. There they were, arms wrapped around one another with the biggest smiles on their little faces. Suddenly, Louis remembered the song Harry used to sing all the time:  _ Isn’t She Lovely _ . It was his absolute favourite. 

He quickly went to  _ YouTube  _ and typed in ‘Isn’t She Lovely’. Well, he actually typed “idnt shy lively”, but  _ YouTube  _ knew what he meant. He clicked the music video and just listened to the song. He shut his eyes and listened to the song and thought back on all the good times they had. The day he had to leave was still the toughest day of his life when he looked back on it. He was absolutely gutted. 

Once the song was finished, he sighed softly and opened his eyes to face reality. He noticed in the ‘Recommended’ tab, there were some covers of the song. One of them had 3000 views. He decided to click it and enjoy the song and see if the cover was any good. 

“Hi guys, it’s Theo Starr here. I hope you enjoy my cover.”

Louis looked at the computer screen with immense confusion. Why did this guy look so familiar? He had soft, brown curly hair and he was wearing a black beanie. He had cute little dimples on the side of his face when he smiled and his sounded so familiar. Was this…? No, it couldn’t have been. There was no way. Was there? Louis looked down at the  _ YouTube  _ channel name. 

Theo Starr. 

 

He then drunkenly grabbed his laptop and shoved it right up to his face, as if to inspect the person who was singing on his screen further. Who the hell was Theo Starr? And why the hell did it look so much like Louis’s childhood best friend, Harry Styles?


End file.
